


The Fox Who Can't Be Moved

by pheersmotu



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Glorious hugging, Hugging, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pheersmotu/pseuds/pheersmotu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nick can't find Judy after their fight, he decides to camp out where they met until she finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fox Who Can't Be Moved

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by The Man Who Can't Be Moved by The Script

When it happened, he had been so angry. No angry wasn’t the right word. There was no word. Nick had taught himself to push down whatever this was years ago. But it still sat there, in the back of his mind. And no matter what he did, he couldn’t make it go away. How could she be afraid of him? He thought he was wrong about her. That she was different. But she was just like everyone else. Then why couldn’t he stop looking at the picture they took right before her press conference. When everything was looking up for the first time in well, ever.

Nick walked down the street, hands in his pocket. He knew he was wrong. She made a mistake. She was different. And he had left, because it was easier than waiting around and admitting that she hurt him. That he actually liked her. And wasn’t that a horrible thought. Even his “friends” weren’t exactly the people you could count on. But Judy had saved his life. Even more than that, she wanted him to be her partner. She trusted him. When was the last time someone trusted him?

Nick abruptly stopped, tripping the horses walking behind him. “Hey!” they whinnied angrily.

He jumped to his feet. “World shattering revelation. Gotta go.” He sped down the street, laughing to himself. “Dumb fox.”

***

He busted in the door to the police station with such force that two officers tackled him to the ground. “Hey, hey!” he yelled.

“Sir, are you trying to get arrested?” the rhino asked.

“No, I was looking fo—“ 

“Nick!” Clawhauser shouted from across the precinct. The cheetah bounded through the lobby.

“Clawhauser, you know this fox?” The rhino loosened his grip on Nick.

“That’s Hopps’s friend, Nick!” the cheetah screeched.

Nick flinched at the mention of Judy’s name.

“O-M-Goodness! Nick what are you doing here?” Clawhauser said shoving a donut in his mouth.

“I was looking for..” He paused and looked over at the reception desk. “Wait, what is that giraffe doing at your desk?”

“Well.” The light left the cheetah’s eyes, and he lowered his head. “They thought it was best if a predator, which I am, was not the face of the ZPD.” His eyes were glassy. 

“She really wrecked things,” Nick muttered under his breath.

Clawhauser’s head jerked up. “Judy? No, no, no. She was only trying to help! This isn’t her fault.”

“That press conference is what led to all of this,” Nick quipped.

“I think you’re mistaken.” Clawhauser was getting defensive. “She didn’t want any of this. That’s why she left. She said she broke Zootopia. It was so sad!”

“She left?!” For just a second the façade crumbled, and Nick’s face showed exactly what he was feeling. 

Clawhauser noticed. “Oh… you didn’t know.”

Nick hardened again. “So, I guess she’s not here.”

“No. I wish she was though,” the cheetah sighed. “They won’t let me look her up in the system because it’s not an official use of police resources.” His fingers made air quotes over official. “I really miss her, though.”

Me, too, Nick thought to himself. He turned around wordlessly and walked out the door.

***

Nick sat on a bridge, looking out at the dark sky and the moon reflecting in the water. For someone who hates pity, he was spending an awful lot of time lately feeling sorry for himself. Why wouldn’t this whole thing disappear? Why would he even care still? He pulled out the picture of the two of them again.

A wolf howled in the distance. Something in Nick snapped. He shoved the picture in his pocket, and grabbed his things, and headed downtown.

***

The elephant’s ice cream parlor looked different in the middle of the night. Or maybe everything just looked different when you were losing your mind. He had always sworn to never be vulnerable. But she made him vulnerable in a way he never was before. And if he was honest with himself (and he never would be) he kinda liked it.

Nick laid his blanket out on the sidewalk in front of the parlor’s window. He sat down on the blanket, and scribbled on a piece of cardboard. Nick’s eyes bored a hole into the sign. Once he was satisfied, he placed it on the ground next to him and laid the picture of him and Judy on top of it. 

Nick knew it made no sense, but he was desperate. He didn’t know where to find Judy, and he needed to see her. Maybe she, or someone she knew, would pass by. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he secretly hoped more than anything that she’d come here, to where they first met, because she missed him just as much as he missed her.

Even though it was late, there were still a few mammals walking by. He propped the sign up against the wall where the passers-by could read and held the picture out to everyone that walked by. After a few hours, he fell asleep next to his sign.

_If you’ve seen this bunny, could you tell her where I am? ___

____

***

Nick was awoken by the trumpeting of an elephant. “You can’t sleep here fox.”

“Actually, I was awake for the day, but thank you.” Nick smiled and sat up.

“Look, shifty, you can’t hang out here. Bad for business.”

“So is your health score, but I can see that from out here,” said Nick.

“I’m calling the police,” said the elephant.

“Please do. They might be able to help.” Nick was dangerously close to laughing.

The elephant huffed and stormed into his shop.

Nick picked up the picture and began holding it where the passers-by could see it.

A lion in a business suit held out some money as he walked by Nick.

“No, that’s not why I’m here,” he sighed. “Do you know her?” he held the picture up the lion, but the lion just kept walking.

Nick cocked his head to the side. Did he really just refuse money? This could have been a great hustle. “Jeez, who am I?” he whispered to himself.

Nick continued to talk to the pedestrians as they walked by for the next three hours. He was beginning to think the elephant was all talk. Until the ZPD patrol car pulled up, and a hippo stepped out.

“Officer, is there a problem?” Nick said with his most innocent voice.

The elephant came barreling out of his shop. “Officer, this fox won’t move.”

“Come on, Wilde,” The officer rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, no can do. Foxes are very determined creatures. Once we set our mind to something, we just can’t stop.”

“Don’t make me arrest you.” The hippo sighed with her whole body.

The elephant made a “told ya so” sound.

“Let’s be real for a minute,” Nick said, getting to his feet. “You arrest me, and I spend what, a day in jail. Then you let me out, and I come back and camp out right here. It’s really just extra steps for you. And paperwork.”

The hippo shook her head, and that’s when she noticed the sign. She looked at Nick, who quickly dropped eye contact.

“Can we talk over here just a second, sir?” The hippo motioned for the elephant to step to the side. “He’s right. He’ll just be back tomorrow and more determined to stay if I arrest him. But, I also know this fox, and if you just ignore him, he’ll go away.”

“But, he’s going to run off customers sitting over there begging for money!” the elephant contested.

“Looks to me like he’s bringing people to you.” The hippo pointed at the shop window where Nick was talking to a herd of antelopes, one of which was crying. After shaking their heads and wishing Nick good luck, they walked into the ice cream parlor.

The elephant huffed and walked back inside.

“Just try not to cause too much trouble,” the hippo said to Nick.

“Aye, aye, captain.” Nick saluted.

The hippo rolled her eyes and got back in her car. Nick could have sworn he heard her wish him good luck as she closed the door.

***

Pretty soon the day turned into a week, and then a week became a month. And Nick never left that spot. It never even crossed his mind that he could leave. This spot was a part of him now. It was the whole reason for his existence. Only Judy would get him to leave.

He even became semi-friends with the elephant who owned the parlor. The elephant’s wife thought the whole thing was sweet, and invited him to use the bathroom whenever he needed to.

As soon as Clawhauser found out, he began emphatically supporting Nick. He brought him snacks and even an umbrella the first day that it rained, and a jacket as the nights got cold.

And so Nick sat there with his picture and his sign for three months. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Nick by now. They would all greet him in the morning on the way to work, and remind him that tomorrow might be the day on their way home. Nick had become famous in the area, and people would talk about him at lunch and in the coffee shops. 

This talk caught the attention of a reporter.

Nick was in the middle of his daily routine, talking to the people walking by when he saw bunny ears sticking out of the crowd. His heart skipped a beat, and he jumped to his feet. He knocked over several mammals trying to get to the ears. It had finally happened. She found him, and he wouldn’t let anything separate them again.

Nick knocked the last bystander out of the way and fell to his knees.

It wasn’t Judy. Just some other bunny and a moose with a video camera. 

Nick’s whole body ached. For that brief second, he thought that everything would be like how it was with her before. But everything was just how it’s always been. And now that he’d experienced how good it could have been, normalness was unbearable.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Wilde,” the bunny said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “My name is Lola MacGreggor, and I heard about what you were doing. I was actually going to ask to interview you.”

Nick looked up at her. Her eyes were kind and she reminded him of Judy. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Of course,” he said despondently.

“Do you mind sitting by your sign? I want to capture the whole feel. I want people to feel like they really know you,” she said.

Nick plopped down in his usual spot, smile back on his face. _Never let them see _, he thought to himself.__

__“Ready?” she asked?_ _

__“Born ready,” said Nick._ _

__“Rolling,” said the moose._ _

__“So Mr. Wilde, why are you here?”_ _

__“What purpose could a fox have waiting outside an ice cream parlor? Well, you see, I am waiting for an apology that I should have gotten months ago, and here I sit,” he chuckled._ _

__“An apology is what’s keeping you here? All this time? How long has it been?” The reporter was clearly not buying his stone-like response._ _

__“I’ve been here about three months. You might not know this, but foxes are very determined creatures. We don’t let go of things easily.”_ _

__“So the bunny you’re looking for is Officer Hopps, right? The one who cracked the savage mammal case?”_ _

__“That is correct,” he responded._ _

__“The same Officer Hopps that turned the city on its head and has predators now living in fear of prey?”_ _

__“That’s not her fault!” Nick snapped. “She only wanted to make the world a better place. And she tried, and sure she might have kinda failed, but there is not a mammal in this city who is half as good as she is. Not one other mammal who cares like she does.” Nick’s breathing was heavy and uneven. It was taking every ounce of self control to not tackle the bunny to the ground._ _

__“Thanks, that’s all I need.” The reporter smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll edit out the prey-predator stuff. But maybe not your response to it.” She winked at Nick as she and the moose turned to walk away._ _

__Nick stood there wide eyed. She played him. Why were rabbits always so good at making him say the one thing he didn’t want to say? And when did he stand up? Nick sighed and sat back down._ _

____

***

Judy sat at the table with her mom and dad, the TV playing low in the background.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” her mom asked.

“I’m fine,” Judy said unconvincingly.

“You have barely smiled in the months that you’ve been home,” said her dad.

“I just… I always thought I could make the world a better place, but I couldn’t. I only made it worse for so many mammals.” Tears started welling up in her eyes. “I even lost my only friend.”

“Aw, honey.” Her mom put her arm around her. “All you have to do is make the world better for one mammal, and you’ve done some good in the world. And you’ve made our world better!” She smiled at her daughter.

“Besides, I’m sure your friend felt like you made their world better, too,” her dad added.

“I’m not so sure about that. I really hurt him.” She was actually crying now. She hadn’t stopped thinking of Nick since the press conference, but she knew he would never forgive her.

“You’d be surprised what people are willing to forgive when they care about you and you give them time,” her dad put his arm around her as well.  
Her mother glanced at the TV. “Dear, why are they showing your picture on TV?”

“What?” Judy’s head jerked around to the TV set. “Turn that up!” she said loudly.

“There is not a mammal in this city who is half as good as she is. Not one other mammal who cares like she does. I’ve been here about three months. You might not know this, but foxes are very determined creatures. We don’t let go of things easily.”

The camera cut from Nick to the anchor in the studio. “That might be one of the sweetest thing’s I’ve ever seen. Like the sign says, folks, if you see this bunny, will you tell her where he is?”

Judy stared at the screen as the anchor started talking about sports. She couldn’t even blink. All this time she thought he hated her. And she was okay with that, because she had been terrible. Well not okay; it was killing her. But she understood. And now here he was, sitting outside an ice cream parlor, for months waiting on her, while she sulked at home with her parents. Wait. She knew that ice cream parlor, but she couldn’t place it.

“Why is there a fox waiting for you outside an elephant’s ice cream parlor?” asked her father.

“Cheese and cracker!” she screamed. “That’s where we met. He hoped I’d come back!”

“Dear, I don’t understand. What’s happening?” her mom asked.

“Can’t talk; gotta go!” She bolted out the door.

Her parents looked at each other quizzically.

“I’ll call you tonight!” Judy popped her head in the door, smiled, and disappeared again.

***

The sun was setting and foot traffic was slowing down around Nick. He leaned back against the building and closed his eyes. He didn’t see the grey bunny standing across the street staring at him with tears in her eyes. All he heard was someone yell, “Nick!”

He opened his eyes, and his mouth dropped open. His heart was beating so fast, he thought his chest might explode. He tried to get up, but his body was completely unresponsive. 

Judy ran across the street smiling and crying at the same time. 

“Carrots, I—“

Judy cut him off. “Nick, I am so, so, so sorry! I was awful to you, and I thought you hated me. I handled the whole thing horribly. I—“ She started tripping over her words. 

“Carrots,” Nick stuck his hand out to her.

She started crying harder. “I never stopped thinking about you. But you… you did this. You waited out here for me all this time, and I let you down again.”

He grabbed her pulled her into his embrace. “Judy, I forgive you.” He closed his eyes and rested his head on hers.

“But, Nick—“ 

“Stop apologizing before I regret spending months outside in the harshest of elements just to get your attention.” His arms tightened around her.

She closed her eyes and her whole body relaxed. “I know you said to stop talking, but I think I love you.”

“I said stop apologizing. Confessions of love are definitely allowed.” He pulled back to look at her, grin streaked across his face. “I might even start them myself.”


End file.
